Dalkeith community rallies together to save last remaining historic building

St. Paul's Church and Chapel is one of the last remaining historic buildings still standing in this small village.

The fate of this more-than-century-old building is currently hanging in the balance, but, the members of the Dalkeith Historical Club are hoping they can convince the powers that be to preserve "this very important part" of the community's history.

The club was afforded the opportunity to make a presentation to North Glengarry council at its regular meeting on Monday, March 22 to ask local legislators for their support and present a petition containing 182 signatures in support of saving St. Paul's Chapel.

According to Frances Fraser, spokesperson for the historical club, the club has only been in existence for four years but has undertaken a number of projects to keep history alive in Dalkeith.

For example, the club set up a local history room at the Dalkeith Public Library, hosted an exhibit and tour celebrating the life and times of author Sandy Fraser and hosted an historical exhibit and wagon tour highlighting the community's history, to name only a few.

This latest project, to save St. Paul's Chapel from its uncertain fate, coincides with the community's 200th anniversary, which will be celebrated this year.

"Our goal is to have St. Paul's designated a heritage site," Fraser explained. "Right now, we're looking for as much moral support as we can get. That building has been a cornerstone of the community for more than a century. It would be a shame to see something happen to it."

Fraser said the number of signatures on the petition proves that current residents, as well as residents who have since left Dalkeith, care about the building and its historical/cultural significance.

"People are passionate about this," Fraser remarked. "No one wants to see anything bad happen to that building."

The building is located at 1845 Dalkeith Road and is currently under the ownership of the Alexandria-Cornwall Catholic Diocese. Research carried out by the historical club shows that the building has been used by the community since the 1860s.

It was built by the Robertson family, who came from Dalkeith, Scotland and gave the community its name. The building served as a general store from 1867 to 1907, when it was sold to what was then the Diocese of Alexandria.

It served as the parish church up until three years ago, when lack of attendance forced the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall to close it. Fraser said the diocese "was very generous" to leave it open as a chapel.

"The chapel is still used a few times a year for funerals or weddings," she said. "Most recently, it was used for the funeral of Stella (St. Denis) Lanthier, which was held in February. She lived to be 101 years old and the service was overcrowded with people. Even though times have changed and people don't use it as a church much anymore, it is still a very important part of our community."

She said the chapel is presently open on special occasions and by appointment.

History club member Louis Loczy said the movement to have the church designated a heritage site began in response to rumours about the diocese's plans for the chapel.

"The truth is, we don't know what they have planned for the building, if anything," he stated. "I suppose, worst case scenario is that it gets demolished. There have been quite a few rumours going around, but the truth is, we just don't know at this point."

St. Paul's is scheduled to host World Prayer Day in 2011. But at the last prayer day, held March 5 at St. Martin de Tours in Glen Robertson, Fraser said a Dalkeith resident was dissuaded from announcing that St. Paul's would be hosting the event, which is a tradition.

When asked what they would like to see happen with the building, history club members admit they don't have a detailed plan in mind, they just don't want the building to disappear.

"There is so much that could be done with it," Fraser noted. "We'll have to sit down and investigate all of the options once we find out what direction we're heading in. Our primary goal is to celebrate our past while moving ahead into the future. We want to try and save this building if we can. We don't want to sit back, do nothing and then say, oh well, we should have done something. Then, it will be too late."

The Review attempted to contact the Most Rev. Paul-André Durocher, Bishop with the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall to get his comments on the fate of the building, but he declined to comment at this time.

In an e-mail to The Review, Durocher said, "I have just been made aware of this committee's project. I am presently in Ottawa, attending meetings of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops... and next week, I will be in Toronto attending meetings of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario. At the same time, our diocesan director of administrative services (Pierre L. Aubé) is away from the office, attending a formation program.

"This makes it difficult for me to respond to your questions right at the present moment. When I return to Cornwall in about ten days, I'll be able to bring myself up to date with the issue."